Mexican musician Julieta Venegas performs during a music festival in support of the student movement #YoSoy132, or "I am 132" in Mexico City, Saturday June 16, 2012. #YoSoy132 is the name of a university movement that rejects the possible return of the old ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) ahead of Mexico's July 1 presidential election. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte) less

Mexican musician Julieta Venegas performs during a music festival in support of the student movement #YoSoy132, or "I am 132" in Mexico City, Saturday June 16, 2012. #YoSoy132 is the name of a university ... more

Photo: AP

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Mexican multimedia artist Natalia Lafourcade performs during a music festival in support of the student movement #YoSoy132, or "I am 132" in Mexico City, Saturday June 16, 2012. #YoSoy132 is the name of a university movement that rejects the possible return of the old ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) ahead of Mexico's July 1 presidential election. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte) less

Mexican multimedia artist Natalia Lafourcade performs during a music festival in support of the student movement #YoSoy132, or "I am 132" in Mexico City, Saturday June 16, 2012. #YoSoy132 is the name of a ... more

Photo: AP

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In this image provided by Mexico's Federal Electoral Institute, IFE, the presidential candidates participate in Mexico's second and last presidential debate in Guadalajara, Mexico, Sunday June 10, 2012. From left are Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, presidential candidate for the Democratic Revolution Party (PRD), Gabriel Quadri, Presidential candidate for the New Alliance party (PANAL), Enrique Pena Nieto, presidential candidate for the Revolutionary Institutional Party (PRI) and Josefina Vazquez Mota, presidential candidate for the National Action Party. (AP Photo/Federal Electoral Institute) less

In this image provided by Mexico's Federal Electoral Institute, IFE, the presidential candidates participate in Mexico's second and last presidential debate in Guadalajara, Mexico, Sunday June 10, 2012. From ... more

Photo: AP

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People gather to watch a broadcast of the second presidential debate on screens at Mexico City's Zocalo plaza, Sunday, June 10, 2012. Mexico will hold presidential elections on July 1. Presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador of the Revolutionary Democratic Party (PRD) is displayed on screen. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte) less

People gather to watch a broadcast of the second presidential debate on screens at Mexico City's Zocalo plaza, Sunday, June 10, 2012. Mexico will hold presidential elections on July 1. Presidential candidate ... more

Photo: AP

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National Action Party (PAN) candidate Josefina Vazquez Mota belongs to the same party as Felipe Calderon.

National Action Party (PAN) candidate Josefina Vazquez Mota belongs to the same party as Felipe Calderon.

Photo: AP

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Presidential candidate Josefina Vazquez Mota of the National Action Party (PAN), center, pauses during a news conference at her campaign headquarters in Mexico City, Wednesday, June 6, 2012. At left is her campaign manager Roberto Gil Zuarth and at right is her new spokesman Juan Ignacio Zavala. Next July 1, Mexico will hold presidential elections. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills) less

Presidential candidate Josefina Vazquez Mota of the National Action Party (PAN), center, pauses during a news conference at her campaign headquarters in Mexico City, Wednesday, June 6, 2012. At left is her ... more

Photo: AP

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Josefina Vazquez Mota, left, presidential candidate for the now-governing National Action Party, PAN, and Mexican poet Javier Sicilia, leader of the Movement for Peace with Justice and Dignity, embrace during a meeting between family members of victims of drug gang-related violence at Chapultepec Castle in Mexico City, Monday, May 28, 2012. Vazquez Moto was the first of the four presidential candidates scheduled to meet with Sicilia and representatives of his movement Monday. Mexico will hold presidential elections on July 1. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo) less

Josefina Vazquez Mota, left, presidential candidate for the now-governing National Action Party, PAN, and Mexican poet Javier Sicilia, leader of the Movement for Peace with Justice and Dignity, embrace during ... more

Photo: AP

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Josefina Vazquez Mota, left, presidential candidate for the now-governing National Action Party, PAN, and Mexican poet Javier Sicilia, leader of the Movement for Peace with Justice and Dignity, embrace during a meeting between family members of victims of drug gang-related violence at Chapultepec Castle in Mexico City, Monday, May 28, 2012. Vazquez Moto was the first of the four presidential candidates scheduled to meet with Sicilia and representatives of his movement Monday. Mexico will hold presidential elections on July 1. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo) less

Josefina Vazquez Mota, left, presidential candidate for the now-governing National Action Party, PAN, and Mexican poet Javier Sicilia, leader of the Movement for Peace with Justice and Dignity, embrace during ... more

Photo: AP

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Enrique Pena Nieto, presidential candidate for the Institutional Revolutionary Party, PRI, left, is greeted by Mexican poet Javier Sicilia, leader of the Movement for Peace with Justice and Dignity, upon his arrival to a meeting with Sicilia and family members of victims of drug gang-related violence at Chapultepec Castle in Mexico City, Monday, May 28, 2012. Pena Nieto was the second of the four presidential candidates to meet with Sicilia and representatives of his movement Monday. Mexico will hold presidential elections on July 1. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo) less

Enrique Pena Nieto, presidential candidate for the Institutional Revolutionary Party, PRI, left, is greeted by Mexican poet Javier Sicilia, leader of the Movement for Peace with Justice and Dignity, upon his ... more

Photo: AP

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Mexican presidential candidate Enrique Pena Nieto of the Revolutionary Institutional Party (PRI), second from left, gestures to supporters while standing with unidentified Baja California state party members during a campaign stop in the northern border city of Tijuana, Mexico, Sunday, June 3, 2012. On July 1, Mexico will hold presidential elections. (AP Photo/Alex Cossio) less

Mexican presidential candidate Enrique Pena Nieto of the Revolutionary Institutional Party (PRI), second from left, gestures to supporters while standing with unidentified Baja California state party members ... more

Photo: AP

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Enrique Pena Nieto, presidential candidate for the Institutional Revolutionary Party, PRI, attends a meeting with Mexican poet Javier Sicilia, leader of the Movement for Peace with Justice and Dignity, and family members of victims of drug gang-related violence at Chapultepec Castle in Mexico City, Monday, May 28, 2012. Pena Nieto was the second of the four presidential candidates to meet with Sicilia and representatives of his movement Monday. Mexico will hold presidential elections on July 1. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo) less

Enrique Pena Nieto, presidential candidate for the Institutional Revolutionary Party, PRI, attends a meeting with Mexican poet Javier Sicilia, leader of the Movement for Peace with Justice and Dignity, and ... more

Photo: AP

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Enrique Pena Nieto, waving to supporters during Sunday's campaign rally in Altacomulco, Mexico, is running for president on the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) ticket.

Enrique Pena Nieto, waving to supporters during Sunday's campaign rally in Altacomulco, Mexico, is running for president on the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) ticket.

The Mexican leader said the result would be the “betterment and well-being of so many millions of people who live in your country and who are also participating.”

The two leaders met in the Oval Office, where Peña Nieto invited Obama to a state visit in Mexico next year. Obama eagerly accepted the invitation during a cordial exchange.

“Any excuse to go to Mexico, I’m always game,” Obama said.

Peña Nieto is meeting with hemispheric leaders in the United States and Canada ahead of his Saturday inauguration in Mexico City.

Obama has designated Vice President Joe Biden to lead an inaugural delegation of U.S. officials, including several Texas lawmakers.

During a whirlwind stop in Washington, Peña Nieto met with Obama and Democratic lawmakers on Capitol Hill, where he spoke about trade, border security and immigration reform.

The White House meeting lasted just minutes, but both said it was a “long-standing tradition” that newly elected leaders from the two countries meet after elections. Obama called it representative of the strength of the relationship between the countries.

“It’s not just a matter of policy, but it’s a matter of people,” he said, noting the “incredible contribution that Mexican-Americans make to our economy, our society and to our politics.”

Some topics avoided

Obama touted the relationship he had with outgoing Mexican President Felipe Calderón, and expressed a desire to forge a partnership with Peña Nieto. Obama said Mexico has become not only a partner on border and regional issues, but on global matters as well.

The leaders sidestepped sensitive issues that have strained the bilateral relationship, including the ambush of CIA agents in Mexico by law enforcement officers and a Laredo shooting by a U.S. Border Patrol agent that killed a Mexican in a park across the Rio Grande.

But Peña Nieto said his administration would launch a campaign to reduce the violence in Mexico, while seeking cooperation with the U.S. to make the border crossings more safe and efficient.

And the Mexican leader also said he looks forward to working with the Obama administration on ways to spur job growth on both sides of the border.

Peña Nieto’s trip to Washington and on to Canada, where he will meet with Prime Minister Stephen Harper, was seen by experts as a way to build goodwill and recast Mexico as a global partner.

Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, introduced Peña Nieto to lawmakers on Capitol Hill earlier this year. He said discussions have centered on improving trade. “There is a lot of trade between the U.S. and Mexico. We need to talk about the partnership,” Cuellar said.

In earlier meetings, Peña Nieto met with U.S. lawmakers and said he wanted to look beyond the drug war and focus on education and economic opportunities on both sides of the border.

The president-elect, in a brief appearance with House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said he looks forward to working on policies that would have the greatest benefits for our people on both sides of the Rio Grande – or Rio Bravo, as it is known in Mexico. Speaking in Spanish, Peña Nieto said the river does not divide the neighboring nations, but unites them.

Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, said it is a good sign Peña Nieto “signaled that one of his top priorities is to strengthen the economic, social and cultural bonds shared by our two nations.”

The newly elected leader is the first candidate from the PRI, to win back the presidency since the old guard political party was defeated in 2000.

Peña Nieto has signaled in talks with lawmakers that he wants to move beyond a bilateral relationship over the past decade that was marked by a clampdown at the U.S.-Mexico border and an ongoing, violent war with drug cartels.

Citizenship issue

He is also pushing for legal status for Mexican citizens living and working in the U.S., a congressional aide said.

Pelosi noted the growing Latino population and said the U.S. and Mexico have “many common and community interests.”

She said she hoped to address the migration issue that impacts both countries in comprehensive immigration reform.

A House-passed version of legislation in 2007 included citizenship for undocumented immigrants who paid a penalty for illegal entry, learned English and had no criminal record.